Samuel Dexter | |||
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3rd United States Secretary of the Treasury | |||
In office January 1, 1801 – May 13, 1801 | |||
President | John Adams Thomas Jefferson | ||
Preceded by | Oliver Wolcott | ||
Succeeded by | Albert Gallatin | ||
4th United States Secretary of War | |||
In office June 1, 1800 – January 31, 1801 | |||
President | John Adams | ||
Preceded by | James McHenry | ||
Succeeded by | Henry Dearborn | ||
United States Senator from Massachusetts | |||
In office March 4, 1799 – May 30, 1800 | |||
Preceded by | Theodore Sedgwick | ||
Succeeded by | Dwight Foster | ||
Member of the United States House of Representatives | In office March 4, 1793 – March 4, 1795 | ||
Preceded by | Fisher Ames | ||
Succeeded by | Theodore Sedgwick | ||
Personal details | |||
Born | Boston, Massachusetts | May 14, 1761||
Died | May 4, 1816 Boston, Massachusetts, U.S. | (aged 54)||
Political party | Federalist | ||
Alma mater | Harvard University | ||
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Samuel Dexter (May 14, 1761 – May 4, 1816) was an early American statesman who served both in Congress and in the Presidential Cabinet.
Life[]
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to the Rev. Samuel Dexter, the 4th minister of Dedham, he graduated from Harvard University in 1781 and then studied law at Worcester under Levi Lincoln, Sr., the future Attorney General of the United States. After he passed the bar in 1784, he began practicing in Lunenburg, Massachusetts.
He was elected to the Massachusetts House of Representatives and served 1788 to 1790. He was elected to the 3rd Congress by way of the United States House of Representatives and then elected as Federalist to the United States Senate. In December 1799, he memorably wrote the memorial eulogy to George Washington upon the first president's death. His house in Dedham stands to today. He was elected a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1800.[1]
He served for less than a year as he was appointed United States Secretary of War by President John Adams in 1800. During his time at this station he urged congressional action to permit appointment and compensation of field officers for general staff duty.
Upon Secretary of the Treasury Oliver Wolcott, Jr.'s resignation in December 1800, Adams appointed Dexter as interim Secretary. He then briefly conducted the affairs of the War Office. He administered the oath of office to Chief Justice John Marshall, and later declined the ambassadorship to Spain.
He returned to Boston in 1805 and resumed the practice of law. He left the Federalist party to espouse Republican views on the War of 1812, and he was an unsuccessful candidate for Governor of Massachusetts in 1814, 1815 and 1816. He was an ardent supporter of the temperance movement and presided over its first formal organization in Massachusetts.
He died on May 4, 1816 shortly before his 55th birthday and is buried in Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Simon Newton Dexter and Andrew Dexter, Jr. were his nephews.
Samuel W. Dexter, founder of Dexter, Michigan, was his son.
Legacy[]
Samuel Dexter is the namesake of Dexter, Maine.[2] The USRC Dexter (1830) was named in his honor.
References[]
- ↑ "Book of Members, 1780–2010: Chapter D". American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/BookofMembers/ChapterD.pdf. Retrieved July 28, 2014.
- ↑ Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off.. pp. 105. http://books.google.com/books?id=9V1IAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA105#v=onepage&q&f=false.
External links[]
- Samuel Dexter at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress Retrieved on 2009-5-20
- "Samuel Dexter". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/memorial/6304729. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
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The original article can be found at Samuel Dexter and the edit history here.